Useful Tips For Shore Divers: Changing In Parking Lots And More

Shore diving offers fun and convenience – plus, it’s often inexpensive to simply pack up your vehicle and head out to explore some new dive sites.  There are some challenges, to be sure; here, we’ll take a few minutes to talk about some ways you can make issues surrounding your dive a little easier.

Dressing and Undressing 

Getting dressed and undressed to dive has some particular challenges other sports enthusiasts don’t normally face. For example, unless you are lucky enough to live right next to your favorite shore dive sites, or unless you are fortunate enough to own a camper, getting dressed and undressed can often pose a challenge. Some things to try:

• If you live nearby, try wearing your wetsuit to the dive site. You won’t want to drive home soaking wet, but you’ll have half the battle taken care of.
• Bring a tarp with you. Stand on it while getting dressed, and you won’t end up with sand in your wetsuit. Before you leave for your dive, setup an empty plastic bin or a cooler to drop your gear into when you return.  Put a few gallon jugs of water into the bin to keep it from blowing away, and to use for a quick rinse-off once you get back to your car.
• Guys, you can rely on the “wrap a towel around your waist” trick to get into and out of your wetsuit in public when there’s no privacy for dressing. Ladies, get your dive buddy to hold a sheet or tarp up for you while you get your upper half into your wetsuit.  You can also look for a dive coat that has pass-through pockets that allow you to dress and undress while wearing it.
  

  Staying Comfortable

  The more comfortable you are, the better you’ll enjoy your dives, and the more enthusiastic you’ll feel about future shore diving trips. Do what you can to stay comfortable. For example, if you’re going to be diving in cold weather, keep a thermos of hot water back at the car, and pour it over your hands and feet to give yourself a quick warm up. You’ll be surprised at what a difference this makes in your comfort level. Additional tips for staying comfortable include:::::READ MORE